


Get Out The Map

by paperwar



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou
Genre: F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-06
Updated: 2012-03-06
Packaged: 2017-11-01 14:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/357685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperwar/pseuds/paperwar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Touko and Shigeru have always been together. That's going to change after graduation, but that's not the only thing that's changing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Get Out The Map

**Author's Note:**

  * For [highboys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/highboys/gifts).



> Highboys, I love the Fujiwaras too, so couldn't resist writing a treat. Hope you like it!

Touko and Shigeru stared at the rain from their classroom window. Shigeru yawned, looked at his watch, and yelped. "No wonder it's so dark." 

Touko laughed. Typical Shigeru. "Silly. We've been here for hours. Of course it's dark," she said, squinting through the window again. The rain clattered on the roof, but it was difficult to see how much was coming down. 

They'd been painting scenery -- their class was doing a play for the cultural festival. Lots of people showed up that afternoon, but as the evening wore on they slipped away. Touko had promised to finish the last few things before she left. Shigeru, in turn, had promised to help and then walk home with her. 

"Thank you for staying," she told him as they finished putting away the paintbrushes and drop cloths. 

He waved a hand hastily. "No, no, it was nothing." As they went down the stairs to the school's main entrance, he said, "I could go home first and come back with an umbrella." 

"No, don't be silly. It's just a little bit of water." Touko's brow wrinkled. "I don't want to stay here by myself anyway." 

Shigeru stepped halfway out the door into the rain, holding up a hand to measure how hard it was falling. "You're right. Maybe we should just go." 

Touko joined him, turning her face up to the sky. It seemed worse than it had looked from the window. She'd be soaked by the time she got home, but that was her fault for loaning her umbrella to a friend earlier. "Let's wait another minute or so, in case it lets up. If you don't mind." She gave him an apologetic look as they retreated inside the building.

"That's fine," he said. "I'll stay with you as long as you want." He shot her a startled glance, as if he hadn't meant to say that, then blurted, "I'm going away next year. To study architecture!"

She nodded, a little confused. This wasn't a surprise. They'd been talking about it for years, how he wanted to go to the university in Kumamoto. When they were in junior high, a few new houses had gone up in their neighborhood. For months, he'd spent most afternoons camped out across from the building site. "I know," she said, because she felt like he was expecting a response.

Shigeru looked at her, wild-eyed. "Will you... will you wait for me?" Touko had only an instant to process what he said before he darted forward and kissed her. It was sloppy, and he almost missed, and it was over before either of them could think too much about it. 

Touko put a hand to her chest. She felt something there, a wildness of her own, joy exploding inside her. "Yes," she said, and it was only then that she let a smile slip across her face. 

He stared at her for a second, face solemn, and grabbed her hands in both of his. "I'm so glad." Then he startled and dropped them. "Sorry, sorry."

She shook her head. Her smile seemed unstoppable, as if there wasn't anything else she could do right now. "It's all right." She took a deep breath, checked the sky again and said, with that smile taking over her whole face, "I think the rain might be letting up. Shall we go home?"

As they left, Shigeru grinned at her. He'd had that same grin since they were kids: a goofy expression that was completely without self-consciousness. Only this time there was something new in it. Or perhaps she was the one who'd changed. All she knew was that when he took her hand, she didn't even care when the rain came hammering down again a minute later.


End file.
